I had a tough time deciding between "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers" and "A Frame for the Sky" for my critical response essay. I enjoyed the stories so much and had a great time analyzing them that I reread them several times. Jarrar's writing is very different from the other works we've read in that she is very blunt, to the point, aggressive in her writing, and she doesn't shy away from using vulgar language to color her characters.

"A Frame for the Sky" is about a Palestinian Muslim that must learn to deal with change, as it is an integral part of his life. I think the story is very exemplary of conditions many Palestinians undergo (constant displacement, bloodshed, etc). The story plays with different themes, such as loneliness, questions of identity, and differences in the Arab and American cultures. I especially enjoyed the similarities I found in his character and many Arab parents I know. The generation gap between Arab immigrants and their first-generation American-born children is often stark, and Jarrar portrays this conflict in a way her readers can relate.

"Lost in Freakin' Yonkers" was a fun read. It was such a real story of how Arab Muslim families react to such situations. It was especially interesting because I felt I knew the narrator..I know an Arab Muslim, that as a teenager, got pregnant by her abusive African-American boyfriend, ran away from home, was disowned by her parents, etc. The similarities to her experiences and the ones of the narrator were shocking. But it made the story that much more real.

I found it very interesting each of the main characters embraced America and their culture. It seemed as though in "Lost in Frekin' Yonkers" the main character had completely lost touch with her culture and accepted her new American life with little hesitation. She delt with the pains that came with loving a man who she knew was no good and being pregnant with his baby. I found it very interesting how happy she was in such an adverse situation. On the other hand in the first story it seemed as though even with new opportunity in America the main character was hesitant to accept his new life. He was afraid what his wife would think about living in America and how it would affect their hold on their culture.

Both of these stories were interesting. Culture played a different role in the characters’ lives. In both stories the main characters had some problems with their culture but the speaker in “A Frame for the Sky” seemed like he was proud of his culture and missed his home country whereas Aida in “Lost in Freakin’ Yonkers” has an indifferent attitude towards her roots. She tells James that “if [he] must [he could] call [her] Arab.” The similarity between these two stories is that the conclusion of both has to do with how the characters make peace with their lives and problems. Also both stores are written in first person from the main characters’ point of view. This obviously gives the readers insight into the storytellers’ thoughts and opinions. This insight helps us conclude how much and in what way culture plays a role in their lives.

Although these works are written from the point of view of first and second generation immigrants, the literary and cultural landscape of Arab Americans is already well established. In many movements, the earliest stages are overly simplified, serving merely to state and bring the issues forward in consciousness. Here, Jarrar has the freedom to present more complex characters and emotional responses to the alienation and loss of home they undergo. It also allows for a more complex structure - non-linear, but tied together (by worst days, or framed by clouds, in the first story.) In the second story, the initial problem (should she marry her worthless boyfriend) is resolved (no) yet despite the hopelessness of the situation she is happy in that moment - leaving us with another paradox (but one often encountered in real life.) It is this kind of complexity (in addition to excellent writing in general) that gives these stories a refreshing depth and realism as compared to some earlier works we have read.

I really enjoyed both of these stories. Although both stories were extremely moving, I can't really relate to either. While I've never been part of an ethnic minority, I am a woman and have some sense of connection with the second story. The angles of the stories mainly deal with the complications that are inherent in whatever label the narrator is identifying themselves. In the first story, the complications arise from being Arab, and in the second, the complications stem from being a woman.

Both stories are written in first person point of view. Both stories are very convencing. You really feel what both of the narrators are going through in each of their stories one being disowned by their country and the other by her family for being pregnant. I definetley almost get the feeling of what its to be an Arab immigrant in america.

These short stories were written from very different points of view, one being an Arab father and the other a girl. Both points of view were very convincing because they both felt completely autobiographical, each tackling their own personal crises in America. "A Frame for the Sky" seems to be entirely about crises, as it is about all of the worst days of his life, however the major underlying crisis is the discrepancy between his Arab identity and his American identity, especially after being rejected from his homes multiple times. Aida has a similar crisis in "Lost in Freakin' Yonkers" when she is disowned by her family.

I enjoyed both fo the stories. The first story was a little sad because of the man's emotional disjoint between what he feels is his true Arab identity and the Americanized version of his identity. His character is tragic, but yet it shows the universal truth that everyone must deal with personal hardships.

The second story touched me in a deeper way. While she is an Arab woman, her experiences are also very American. Many non-Arab-American women face the same types of pressures when they are facing an unplanned pregnancy. This story was deeper and more personal.

The first story "A Frame for the Sky" reminded me of so many stories I've heard from family and friends. The author does a great job capturing the sentiment of someone who is exiled from their home repeatedly. I think she makes a good point of demonstrating the main character's sense of forever being a refugee without a way or an allowance back home.

I found the second story to be written with lots of wit and humor. The author does a good job conveying what it's like to be Arab growing up in America and more importantly, being an Arab-American woman living in America. The story is written using very raw language that I think sets off the events accurately. The language is both a reflection of the characters and of the setting. I enjoyed both stories and felt that they were very well-written and easy to relate to.

I really enjoyed these two pieces and found it very interesting that she wrote from two very different perspectives. Because the stories have such an autobiographical feel and because many of the poems and stories we have read have been autobiographical, it really threw me off when suddenly the second story was from a pregnant girl. Because she used the first person point of view for each you really feel and understand the emotions of each character and what they're going through. The fact that she could write two different characters that both feel what is to be an Arab immigrant in America is extremely impressive to me. Neither story has a real resolution or an exact plot but both give an interesting understanding of what it is to Arab and American.

I enjoyed these pieces more than all the previous pieces we've read for the class. Instead of centralizing around Arab upbringing, the stories are very strong personal vignettes and portraits in which an Arab background is the strongest, but not the only color. That said:

I read the first piece second, by accident, and actually found that it probably had more impact for that reason. Jarrar writes from what I gathered as her own father's perspective, which was very captivating. She sees herself (the rebellious teen) and the world around her through his eyes so convincingly, that sometimes I forget that this is fiction prose. Which is another point, the other pieces are very autobiographical in nature. And though these may very well be, they read much more like character studies from someone who has observed from the outside. The story itself is hard for me to peg. The best way I can put it is that it is a piece about acceptance and humanity.

The second piece, which I related to more, impressed me very much. Jarrar has a narrative edge that I didn't really get from previous authors. She's, of course, more irreverent that Mahjar writers, but the thing that stands out about "Yonkers" from the work of Detroit writers is the strong character agency. Instead of coming of age or developing an identity, Jarrar's characters are cemented in who they are. Therefore the stories are less about the Arab-American experience, and more about life experiences from an alternate angle.

I thought both stories were very good, and and i thought there was some humor in the second one, it was pretty funny when she would speak arabic to James and lie about what she was saying. I liked how the stories seemed autobigoraphical. The second story is one of many stories of young girls who get pregneant with a guy who cant even take care of himself. I thought it was interesting how American families and Arab families have pretty much the same views on that.
The first story was pretty sad, and I felt like there wasnt really any resolution, it was just really sad. The character realized that everything had stayed the same for so long, that nothing really changes. It was probably hard for a lot of Arabs to come to America and realize that they cant go back home.

I thought that both of these stories were pretty cool and different from each other. The first story was kind of depressing how the guy in the story had to keep facing hardships, and right when things seemed like they were going to be alright again, something else bad happened. However, the man in the story mentions how that's just how life is, with its ups and downs. This story gives some what of a feel for what if feels like to be Arab and torn between your native home and America, and how terrible it feels to be exiled out of your home, or not allowed back to your home simply because of being Arab.

The second story was not that much happier than the first, but was a good portrayal of a young and confused Arab American teenager girl who has to go through a pregnancy. This story did a good job of showing the views of the Arab culture, for example when her dad says in a poem to his daughter "If you have a child, we will no longer be your family. You wil be dead to us forever." This shows how taboo teen pregnancies are for Arab culture. In a way, this shows a similarity to American culture, in that many families act the same way in dealing with teen pregnancies, thus showing how the two cultures are not as different in the ideals as one might think.

I thought it was interesting how both of the stories manage a very autobiographical feel, even though they are both very different in style and temperment. If I hadn't known before hand, I don't think I would have realized they were by the same author.

In the first story, the narrator's sense of being 'Arab' is a driving force behind his behavior. He identifies strongly with his homeland and his past, which is why the top three worst days of his life involve losing his mother (whom his children have never met), being forbidden to go back into Kuwait, being forbidden back into Palestine. But while his own submission to Americanization makes him ambivalent, even miserable, at the same time he takes pride in the fact that his son's talents in English have surpassed his own.

The second story, “Lost in Freakin’ Yonkers,” is also filled with a sense of being Arab, but that is secondary to the sense of being a woman in America. Dealing with impending motherhood, handling a jerk of a boyfriend and having your parents pressure you for an abortion are experiences common to all sorts of women. There are distinctive cultural touches in the story, such as the response in poetry form and her inability to find a book relating to her experience, but these touches serve to make the story feel deeper, and don’t detract from a more universal appeal or understanding.